Massachusetts Jury Rejects Smokers’ Claims in Medical Monitoring Trial
February 10 2016 - 1:45PM
Business Wire
A 10-person jury in Boston today unanimously rejected the claims
made by a class of Massachusetts smokers who want Philip Morris USA
(PM USA) to pay for a court-ordered medical monitoring program. The
plaintiffs failed to persuade the jury that Marlboro cigarettes
were defective.
“Today’s unanimous verdict again demonstrates that these types
of medical monitoring claims are meritless. The jury soundly
rejected that Marlboro cigarettes are defectively designed,” said
Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and
associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. “This was
the third case of its kind to go to trial, and in each the jury
ruled in favor of Philip Morris USA.”
Two other similar trials took place in Louisiana and West
Virginia in the early 2000s. Many states, however, do not allow
medical monitoring claims.
This is one of the few cigarette class action cases to go to
trial. The overwhelming majority of federal and state courts have
rejected class certification of smokers’ claims, including those
seeking medical monitoring, because the claims raise issues unique
to each individual smoker.
Further proceedings are expected in the district court following
the jury’s verdict. The judge presiding over the case has
determined that she will decide whether there was a violation of
Massachusetts’ consumer protection act.
Originally filed in 2006, the plaintiffs in the Donovan case are
seeking a 28-year medical monitoring program with an approximate
cost of $190 million. The class includes all Massachusetts smokers
who, as of February 2013, were at least 50, had at least a 20
pack-year history of smoking Marlboro cigarettes and have neither
been diagnosed with lung cancer nor are under investigation by a
physician for suspected lung cancer.
This case is Donovan v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., case number
1:06-cv-12234
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